>>>I replaced my LEFT OUTER JOIN with INNER JOIN, and the query took only 8 seconds this time.
>>>
>>>LEFT JOIN can always be replaced with INNER JOIN and a UNION. Did both INNER JOINS table1->table2 and table2->table1 work the same?
>>
>>
>>I'm not sure, but that comment doesn't ring true to me. Can you provide an example test to show me what you mean?
>
>http://www.sql-server-performance.com/transact_sql.asp
>

>select table1.*, table2.* from table1 inner join table2 on ...
>union ;
>select table1.*, cast("" as c(50)) as field2, ... from table1 && rest of records from table1 what don't have table2 matching records

Why I see VFP code here
cast("" as c(50))
must be
cast('' as char(50)) or
cast("" as varchar(50)) or simply
''

:-)))
and BTW you need LEFT JOIN for the second select just to add where clause so you could filter records from table1 which doesn't exist in table2.